Jimmy Barry-Murphy: We showed great heart and character to win

St Finbarr’s selector Jimmy Barry-Murphy has praised his side’s character as they eked out a mighty win over Clonmel Commercials on Saturday afternoon.

The city side looked in bother at various stages of the game and with the contest going down the home stretch, the Barrs trailed by one point before kicking the last four points.

The Togher outfit prevailed on a scoreline of 1-17 to 2-11 in the AIB Munster Club SFC quarter-final at Clonmel Sportsfield.

“It was an incredible game and a very tough game, conditions obviously were very, very heavy,” the Cork GAA legend said to The Echo post-match. 

“It’s a totally new ballgame, not what we were used to all summer. I thought the lads were fantastic. They showed great courage. Honestly, this game could have gone either way. Our lads showed tremendous heart and character and we’re so proud of them for that.

“To finish as strong as we did is obviously very pleasing because, you know, always in these conditions, it’s so hard to get on the ball and so hard to win it.

“Our subs made a big impact again and we are so glad to have got over the line.” 

One thing that St Finbarr’s didn’t do at any stage was panic when they could have easily done so on occasions. Maybe a couple of decisions didn’t go their way either, but they stuck at it.

“It took a huge effort from our team to come up here and win this game,” Barry-Murphy says.

“We got ourselves into good scoring positions and made sure that we converted in the final five minutes, in particular in injury time.

“That was great composure by our lads to work the ball into the scoring area and get the ball to the right players to score. I was worried up to the last few minutes, honestly. I thought when they went up a couple of points there in the second half, I thought we were gone.

“Playing away from home is always difficult and the conditions being what they were, it was extremely hard to get the ball up the field and work scoring opportunities.

“Our lads showed just great composure, great character, and that’s all you can ask for. It’s a great win as the players want to make a statement in the Munster series.” 

St Finbarr’s had a three-week break coming into this game after their county success over Nemo Rangers. Clonmel Commercials only won their championship in Tipperary seven days before this Munster battle.

“We were thrilled that the lads were so keen to come back training. We’ve worked very, very hard since then. I thought that showed today, the way we finished.

“The three-week gap, you can argue that either way. It can be difficult. But for us, anyway, we felt that was a break we needed.

“I must say, fabulous support for the club up here in Tipperary. We will now get ready for next weekend.” Barry-Murphy ended.

St Finbarr’s will meet Éire Óg of Ennis in the last four next Sunday at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh (3.30pm).